- Email: [email protected]
Amazon writes its own rules
NEWS
Hand gesture system: “Set to revolutionise computer security”.
multiple passwords, and businesses who want a cost-effective solution.” Hitachi quotes Gartner research that estimates that 40% of all contacts for IT service desks are password-related, driving up costs. Hitachi also claimed that password breaches account for over 80% of all intrusions, and added that biometric methods such as facial recognition and fingerprint scanning have still not provided total security. “Commercial grade facial recognition technology is focused on convenience over protection and fingerprint scanners require the addition of specialist technology,” the company said. Because the finger vein technology uses the device’s existing camera, it removes the need for additional hardware tokens, smartcards or biometric readers. Hitachi also points out that, being located inside the body, finger vein patterns are difficult to spoof or replicate, and unlike fingerprints do not change with age or skin tone. The hand gesture technology, which was demonstrated for the first time in London on 10 September, will be available in 2020 in Europe. Hitachi says it can be integrated into almost any existing corporate system. It offers device-less biometric login for Windows 10 (version 1809 and above) and Office 365 environments, and will work with existing Active Directory systems and can be deployed centrally. Credentials can be stored locally or remotely. Hitachi’s finger vein biometrics are currently used by banks for authorising transactions, password replacement, single sign-on and ATM machines, in Japan, North America and Europe.
regulation
Amazon writes its own rules
J
eff Bezos, CEO of Amazon – which produces the controversial Rekognition face recognition system – has revealed that his company is working on its own set of regulations, to prevent FR technology being abused. Bezos told reporters last month that Amazon’s public policy team is working on facial recognition regulations that it plans to share with US federal lawmakers, according to
October 2019
Reuters, VOX and other media. “Facial recognition is a perfect example of something that has really positive uses, so you don’t want to put the brakes on it,” Bezos said. “At the same time, there’s lots of potential for abuses with that kind of technology, and so you do want regulations.” The move follows a plea earlier this year by Amazon’s Global Public Policy VP, Michael Punke, for “an appropriate national legislative framework that protects individual civil rights and ensures that governments are transparent in their use of facial recognition technology.” (BTT, June 2019). Now it seems Amazon is going one step further and developing its own proposed regulations. Bezos did not provide any further details of what these might be. Last year, Microsoft president Brad Smith also called for “thoughtful government regulation” of facial recognition (BTT, September 2018). But Bezos’ statement was greeted with scepticism by privacy campaigners. Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, said: “Amazon wants to write the laws governing facial recognition to make sure they’re friendly to their surveillance-driven business model. Members of Congress are currently drafting legislation related to facial recognition, and we hope they know that the public will not accept Trojan Horse regulations that line Jeff Bezos’ pockets at the expense of all our basic human rights.” Amazon has a major stake in the issue after Rekognition last year ran into heavy criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and 35 other campaign groups who demanded that it halt all police and government sales of the software – which they branded “a dangerous dragnet surveillance system”. ACLU also claimed Rekognition wrongly identified 28 members of the US Congress as criminals when their photos were matched against a database of offender mugshots (BTT, September 2018). But earlier this year, Michael Punke hit back at this and other “tests by outside groups attempting to show how Rekognition could be used to discriminate”. He said the groups misused the software and have refused to reveal their training data and testing parameters. • California is in the final stages of passing a new state-wide law to ban its police officers from using facial recognition technology on their body-worn cameras, for the next three years. The legislation now awaits sign-off or veto by state governor Gavin Newsom, and would come into effect from 1 January 2020. Matt Cagle, an attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, welcomed the move saying: “Face-scanning police body cameras have no place on our streets, where they can be used Continued on page 11...
EVENTS CALENDAR 29–30 October Biometrics Institute Congress 2019
London, UK This event provides an off-the-record forum where the international biometrics community can discuss issues such as the ethical use of biometrics, digital identity, technology innovation, consumer biometrics, intelligent borders, and biometrics for social enablement. It is part of Biometrics Week 2019 (28 October-1 November) and is accompanied by satellite events on either side. Last year’s Congress had attendees from 30 countries. This year’s speakers include UK Biometrics Commissioner Paul Wiles; John Boyd, assistant director in the US Department of Homeland Security; Silkie Carlo, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch; and Patrick Grother, NIST’s head of biometric standards and testing. More information: https://www.biometricsinstitute.org/event/biometrics-congress-2019/
13–14 November AI & Big Data Expo North America
Santa Clara, US This conference and exhibition will showcase advances in artificial intelligence and big data, their impact on the enterprise and consumer sectors, as well as development platforms and digital transformation opportunities. It will feature over 500 speakers across 24 conference tracks and 350-plus exhibitors. Thousands of attendees are expected for two days of content covering the ecosystem surrounding AI, big data, IoT, blockchain, cyber-security and the cloud. Key topics include business intelligence, deep learning, machine learning, AI algorithms and data & analytics. More information: https://www.ai-expo.net/northamerica/
26–27 November Verify 2019
Sydney, Australia This event will cover key subjects in identity and access management (IAM), including multi-factor authentication and biometrics, privileged access management, identity governance, automating IAM processes, consumer data rights compliance, blockchain and decentralised identity, and IAM privacy. More information: https://verify.coriniumintelligence.com/
3–4 December International Security Expo
Olympia, London, UK The International Security Expo (ISE) brings together government, industry, academia and end users in charge of regulation and procurement to debate current challenges and to source new security technologies and services. The event promises to feature over 300 exhibitors and suppliers, and over 1,000 products and services. New focus areas include international forensics and serious & organised crime. Speakers for 2019 include the FBI and the UK Cabinet Office and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Access to ISE 2019 is by application, all registrations are vetted and photo ID is required on arrival. More information: https://www.internationalsecurityexpo.com/
Biometric Technology Today
3
NEWS ...Continued from page 3 for dragnet surveillance of Californians, our locations, and our personal associations.” In June, body camera supplier Axon also announced that it would not add facial recognition to its body camera systems until ethical issues were resolved. And in April, Microsoft said it had turned down a request from a law enforcement agency in California to use its facial recognition technology with police body cameras, citing human rights concerns.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon: “Lots of potential for abuses with facial recognition technology, so you do want regulations.”
camera technology
Chinese unveil ‘super camera’
C
hinese scientists have developed a 500 megapixel facial recognition camera that is four times more powerful than the human eye and can capture every face in crowds of tens of thousands of people. The camera was developed by researchers at Shanghai’s Fudan University and the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, according to China’s Global Times news service and Asia Times. It was first shown at China’s International Industry Fair last month. According to the reports, the camera can capture extremely detailed images. For example, in a stadium with tens of thousands of people, it can shoot a panoramic photo with a clear image of every face and find specific target faces within seconds. Global Times also said the camera system can create videos with the same ultra-high resolution as still images, using two special chips developed by the research team. The videos and images captured can also be uploaded to a cloud data centre for wide access. Experts say the camera could be used in national defence, military and public security applications. For example, Asia Times reports Zeng Xiaoyang, one of the camera’s developers, as saying it could be used to monitor city centre crowds in real time to prevent criminal activity. The development has inevitably raised privacy and mass surveillance concerns. China has led the way in mass surveillance, with an esti-
October 2019
mated 200 million CCTV cameras installed. However, in one area it is now stepping back from intense surveillance – the Chinese government announced last month that it plans to “curb and regulate” the use of facial recognition technology in its schools, according to the BBC, quoting Chinese media sources. China’s Ministry of Education made the pledge after a university in Nanjing was recently reported to be trialling facial recognition technology to monitor its students’ attendance and behaviour. This attracted online criticism – and follows the widely reported news last year that a high school in Hangzhou, eastern China had installed surveillance cameras above a blackboard to monitor how attentive its students were in class. Lei Chaozi, director of science and technology at China’s Ministry of Education, has promised a crackdown on such usage, according to the BBC. “We need to be very careful when it comes to students’ personal information,” he said. “Don’t collect it if it’s not necessary. And try to collect as little as possible if we have to.” The Ministry of Education has issued new guidance saying education authorities and schools should seek the opinions of parents, students and teachers before introducing new technology, and should register any new apps being used, to build a database for better supervision, the BBC says.
fingerprinting
Biometric gun holsters go on sale
N
ew York-based Vara Safety has started shipping a range of ‘Reach’ biometric gun holsters, which aim to stop anyone except the owner getting hold of the weapon. The Reach sealed units are made of a highstrength metal alloy and are designed to be wall-mounted in the owner’s home, office or vehicle. They use a built-in fingerprint sensor which identifies the person trying to unlock the holster and take out the firearm. Vara is now shipping the Reach units to more than 400 pre-order customers. The company also said it is in talks with several industry leaders to expand production, and expects to ship thousands of the locally assembled holster safes. Vara says it focuses on “creating beautiful, simple and highly engineered products and services that bring better gun security for families”. The company quotes figures from the Injury Free Coalition for Kids, which found that 50% of handguns in the US are stored loaded or with the ammunition, and that children
are 73% less at risk of unintentional injury when they live in a household with locked and unloaded guns. It also quotes figures suggesting around 100 children aged under 20 die from unintentional firearm-related injuries annually. Company founder and CEO Timmy Oh said: “We will be focusing future development on our core technology application to safety in law enforcement, suicide prevention, pharmaceutical storage, smart homes and more.” Oh previously won $100,000 in a New York State Business Plan competition and has secured financial backing for his products from New York City’s Purritano Management.
innovation
University develops ID system using ear canal
A
research team from the US University at Buffalo (UB) have come up with a novel biometric authentication technique, called EarEcho, which identifies people via their ear canal’s unique geometry. UB associate professor Zhanpeng Jin, who led the research, said he was inspired by the fact that so many students walk around with speakers in their ears. “It led me to wonder what else we could do with them,” he said. Jin, who is associate professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, set up a team who have developed EarEcho. The product uses modified wireless ‘earbuds’ to authenticate smartphone users. EarEcho works by playing a sound into the individual’s ear using a pair of ordinary headphones, which is reflected and absorbed by the ear canal. This produces a unique signature which is recorded by a tiny microphone attached to the earbud. The data is then sent via Bluetooth to the user’s smartphone for verification. The research team also developed acoustic signal processing techniques to limit noise interference, and models to share information between EarEcho’s components. To test the device, 20 subjects listened to audio samples that included a variety of speech, music and other content. The team conducted tests in different environmental settings (such as on the street and in a shopping mall) and with the subjects in different positions (such as sitting, standing, head tilted). EarEcho proved roughly 95% effective when given one second to authenticate the subjects. The score improved to 97.5% when it continued to monitor the subject in three-second windows. Continued on page 12...
Biometric Technology Today
11
Hand gesture system: “Set to revolutionise computer security”.
multiple passwords, and businesses who want a cost-effective solution.” Hitachi quotes Gartner research that estimates that 40% of all contacts for IT service desks are password-related, driving up costs. Hitachi also claimed that password breaches account for over 80% of all intrusions, and added that biometric methods such as facial recognition and fingerprint scanning have still not provided total security. “Commercial grade facial recognition technology is focused on convenience over protection and fingerprint scanners require the addition of specialist technology,” the company said. Because the finger vein technology uses the device’s existing camera, it removes the need for additional hardware tokens, smartcards or biometric readers. Hitachi also points out that, being located inside the body, finger vein patterns are difficult to spoof or replicate, and unlike fingerprints do not change with age or skin tone. The hand gesture technology, which was demonstrated for the first time in London on 10 September, will be available in 2020 in Europe. Hitachi says it can be integrated into almost any existing corporate system. It offers device-less biometric login for Windows 10 (version 1809 and above) and Office 365 environments, and will work with existing Active Directory systems and can be deployed centrally. Credentials can be stored locally or remotely. Hitachi’s finger vein biometrics are currently used by banks for authorising transactions, password replacement, single sign-on and ATM machines, in Japan, North America and Europe.
regulation
Amazon writes its own rules
J
eff Bezos, CEO of Amazon – which produces the controversial Rekognition face recognition system – has revealed that his company is working on its own set of regulations, to prevent FR technology being abused. Bezos told reporters last month that Amazon’s public policy team is working on facial recognition regulations that it plans to share with US federal lawmakers, according to
October 2019
Reuters, VOX and other media. “Facial recognition is a perfect example of something that has really positive uses, so you don’t want to put the brakes on it,” Bezos said. “At the same time, there’s lots of potential for abuses with that kind of technology, and so you do want regulations.” The move follows a plea earlier this year by Amazon’s Global Public Policy VP, Michael Punke, for “an appropriate national legislative framework that protects individual civil rights and ensures that governments are transparent in their use of facial recognition technology.” (BTT, June 2019). Now it seems Amazon is going one step further and developing its own proposed regulations. Bezos did not provide any further details of what these might be. Last year, Microsoft president Brad Smith also called for “thoughtful government regulation” of facial recognition (BTT, September 2018). But Bezos’ statement was greeted with scepticism by privacy campaigners. Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, said: “Amazon wants to write the laws governing facial recognition to make sure they’re friendly to their surveillance-driven business model. Members of Congress are currently drafting legislation related to facial recognition, and we hope they know that the public will not accept Trojan Horse regulations that line Jeff Bezos’ pockets at the expense of all our basic human rights.” Amazon has a major stake in the issue after Rekognition last year ran into heavy criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and 35 other campaign groups who demanded that it halt all police and government sales of the software – which they branded “a dangerous dragnet surveillance system”. ACLU also claimed Rekognition wrongly identified 28 members of the US Congress as criminals when their photos were matched against a database of offender mugshots (BTT, September 2018). But earlier this year, Michael Punke hit back at this and other “tests by outside groups attempting to show how Rekognition could be used to discriminate”. He said the groups misused the software and have refused to reveal their training data and testing parameters. • California is in the final stages of passing a new state-wide law to ban its police officers from using facial recognition technology on their body-worn cameras, for the next three years. The legislation now awaits sign-off or veto by state governor Gavin Newsom, and would come into effect from 1 January 2020. Matt Cagle, an attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, welcomed the move saying: “Face-scanning police body cameras have no place on our streets, where they can be used Continued on page 11...
EVENTS CALENDAR 29–30 October Biometrics Institute Congress 2019
London, UK This event provides an off-the-record forum where the international biometrics community can discuss issues such as the ethical use of biometrics, digital identity, technology innovation, consumer biometrics, intelligent borders, and biometrics for social enablement. It is part of Biometrics Week 2019 (28 October-1 November) and is accompanied by satellite events on either side. Last year’s Congress had attendees from 30 countries. This year’s speakers include UK Biometrics Commissioner Paul Wiles; John Boyd, assistant director in the US Department of Homeland Security; Silkie Carlo, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch; and Patrick Grother, NIST’s head of biometric standards and testing. More information: https://www.biometricsinstitute.org/event/biometrics-congress-2019/
13–14 November AI & Big Data Expo North America
Santa Clara, US This conference and exhibition will showcase advances in artificial intelligence and big data, their impact on the enterprise and consumer sectors, as well as development platforms and digital transformation opportunities. It will feature over 500 speakers across 24 conference tracks and 350-plus exhibitors. Thousands of attendees are expected for two days of content covering the ecosystem surrounding AI, big data, IoT, blockchain, cyber-security and the cloud. Key topics include business intelligence, deep learning, machine learning, AI algorithms and data & analytics. More information: https://www.ai-expo.net/northamerica/
26–27 November Verify 2019
Sydney, Australia This event will cover key subjects in identity and access management (IAM), including multi-factor authentication and biometrics, privileged access management, identity governance, automating IAM processes, consumer data rights compliance, blockchain and decentralised identity, and IAM privacy. More information: https://verify.coriniumintelligence.com/
3–4 December International Security Expo
Olympia, London, UK The International Security Expo (ISE) brings together government, industry, academia and end users in charge of regulation and procurement to debate current challenges and to source new security technologies and services. The event promises to feature over 300 exhibitors and suppliers, and over 1,000 products and services. New focus areas include international forensics and serious & organised crime. Speakers for 2019 include the FBI and the UK Cabinet Office and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Access to ISE 2019 is by application, all registrations are vetted and photo ID is required on arrival. More information: https://www.internationalsecurityexpo.com/
Biometric Technology Today
3
NEWS ...Continued from page 3 for dragnet surveillance of Californians, our locations, and our personal associations.” In June, body camera supplier Axon also announced that it would not add facial recognition to its body camera systems until ethical issues were resolved. And in April, Microsoft said it had turned down a request from a law enforcement agency in California to use its facial recognition technology with police body cameras, citing human rights concerns.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon: “Lots of potential for abuses with facial recognition technology, so you do want regulations.”
camera technology
Chinese unveil ‘super camera’
C
hinese scientists have developed a 500 megapixel facial recognition camera that is four times more powerful than the human eye and can capture every face in crowds of tens of thousands of people. The camera was developed by researchers at Shanghai’s Fudan University and the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, according to China’s Global Times news service and Asia Times. It was first shown at China’s International Industry Fair last month. According to the reports, the camera can capture extremely detailed images. For example, in a stadium with tens of thousands of people, it can shoot a panoramic photo with a clear image of every face and find specific target faces within seconds. Global Times also said the camera system can create videos with the same ultra-high resolution as still images, using two special chips developed by the research team. The videos and images captured can also be uploaded to a cloud data centre for wide access. Experts say the camera could be used in national defence, military and public security applications. For example, Asia Times reports Zeng Xiaoyang, one of the camera’s developers, as saying it could be used to monitor city centre crowds in real time to prevent criminal activity. The development has inevitably raised privacy and mass surveillance concerns. China has led the way in mass surveillance, with an esti-
October 2019
mated 200 million CCTV cameras installed. However, in one area it is now stepping back from intense surveillance – the Chinese government announced last month that it plans to “curb and regulate” the use of facial recognition technology in its schools, according to the BBC, quoting Chinese media sources. China’s Ministry of Education made the pledge after a university in Nanjing was recently reported to be trialling facial recognition technology to monitor its students’ attendance and behaviour. This attracted online criticism – and follows the widely reported news last year that a high school in Hangzhou, eastern China had installed surveillance cameras above a blackboard to monitor how attentive its students were in class. Lei Chaozi, director of science and technology at China’s Ministry of Education, has promised a crackdown on such usage, according to the BBC. “We need to be very careful when it comes to students’ personal information,” he said. “Don’t collect it if it’s not necessary. And try to collect as little as possible if we have to.” The Ministry of Education has issued new guidance saying education authorities and schools should seek the opinions of parents, students and teachers before introducing new technology, and should register any new apps being used, to build a database for better supervision, the BBC says.
fingerprinting
Biometric gun holsters go on sale
N
ew York-based Vara Safety has started shipping a range of ‘Reach’ biometric gun holsters, which aim to stop anyone except the owner getting hold of the weapon. The Reach sealed units are made of a highstrength metal alloy and are designed to be wall-mounted in the owner’s home, office or vehicle. They use a built-in fingerprint sensor which identifies the person trying to unlock the holster and take out the firearm. Vara is now shipping the Reach units to more than 400 pre-order customers. The company also said it is in talks with several industry leaders to expand production, and expects to ship thousands of the locally assembled holster safes. Vara says it focuses on “creating beautiful, simple and highly engineered products and services that bring better gun security for families”. The company quotes figures from the Injury Free Coalition for Kids, which found that 50% of handguns in the US are stored loaded or with the ammunition, and that children
are 73% less at risk of unintentional injury when they live in a household with locked and unloaded guns. It also quotes figures suggesting around 100 children aged under 20 die from unintentional firearm-related injuries annually. Company founder and CEO Timmy Oh said: “We will be focusing future development on our core technology application to safety in law enforcement, suicide prevention, pharmaceutical storage, smart homes and more.” Oh previously won $100,000 in a New York State Business Plan competition and has secured financial backing for his products from New York City’s Purritano Management.
innovation
University develops ID system using ear canal
A
research team from the US University at Buffalo (UB) have come up with a novel biometric authentication technique, called EarEcho, which identifies people via their ear canal’s unique geometry. UB associate professor Zhanpeng Jin, who led the research, said he was inspired by the fact that so many students walk around with speakers in their ears. “It led me to wonder what else we could do with them,” he said. Jin, who is associate professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, set up a team who have developed EarEcho. The product uses modified wireless ‘earbuds’ to authenticate smartphone users. EarEcho works by playing a sound into the individual’s ear using a pair of ordinary headphones, which is reflected and absorbed by the ear canal. This produces a unique signature which is recorded by a tiny microphone attached to the earbud. The data is then sent via Bluetooth to the user’s smartphone for verification. The research team also developed acoustic signal processing techniques to limit noise interference, and models to share information between EarEcho’s components. To test the device, 20 subjects listened to audio samples that included a variety of speech, music and other content. The team conducted tests in different environmental settings (such as on the street and in a shopping mall) and with the subjects in different positions (such as sitting, standing, head tilted). EarEcho proved roughly 95% effective when given one second to authenticate the subjects. The score improved to 97.5% when it continued to monitor the subject in three-second windows. Continued on page 12...
Biometric Technology Today
11